Page 126 of Resist

“Know what?” Ryker questions, confused.

“Nothing.” I laugh, knowing how ridiculous the three of us look with “hang loose” signs on our thighs.

“No, tell me.”

“Auntie Vee says I shouldn’t tell lies. Lies are bad. They can hurt people’s feelings . . . but sometimes you have to tell little white lies. Little white lies aren’t great, but . . . but they are better than hurting someone’s feelings.”

“So we came up with a code,” I interject.

“Yep,” Lucy says with a big smile and holds the “hang loose” signal up. “This means I’m fibbing, and Auntie knows why.”

“We were having some trouble with telling a few too many lies. So much so that we were messing up what was truth and what wasn’t,” I explain. “So I figured as long as she understands that she’s doing it—”

“It’s okay!” Lucy says.

“As long as it’s not all the time, and it’s only done so that she doesn’t hurt someone’s feelings,” I amend.

Ryker belts out a laugh. “So you’re telling me that I just told you I was taking you to Disney on Ice, and when I did the symbol—”

“You told me you were lying,” Lucy says and giggles.

Ryker pulls his hand off his thigh so fast, only serving to make Lucy laugh harder.

That sound.

It’s beautiful.

And now I can head out of town with Ryker feeling a little more at ease over leaving her.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Vaughn

I lived in extravagant houses growing up.

Money is something I should be comfortable around, considering my uncle’s wealth and the clients I have . . . but when I walk into Ryker’s house on Old Town Road in the Hamptons, my breath catches.

The property is gorgeous. With slate-gray exterior siding, manicured lawns, and an ocean view, it looks like something straight out of a designer magazine. The inside is done in crisp white, with a mixture of modern and old world that doesn’t sound like it would fit together but somehow does. The kitchen is expansive, the rooms open and airy, and every single wall has a window, so it’s impossible to miss the Atlantic Ocean outside. And that has nothing on the backyard’s pool, tennis court, pool house, built-in patio with every amenity you can think of, and that’s just what I can see from the back door.

“Sorry. I had to check on something,” Ryker says as he walks up behind me and presses a kiss to my bare shoulder. “I didn’t mean to leave you all alone.”

“It’s okay. I snooped,” I say to abate the nerves that are suddenly fluttering in my stomach.

It’s one thing to stay the night with him. It’s a whole other one to commit to spending four nights in his house with him.

“Did you find anything good?” he asks. He turns me around and presses a tantalizing kiss to my lips before I can respond.

“Just the broken hearts of your exes swept under the rug.”

“Witty,” he says as his face breaks out in a smile. His arm slides around my waist and pulls him against my side.

“I’ve never been here before.”

“To the Hamptons?”

I nod as my eyes keep wandering. To the decor and the appliances and everything. When I look back his way, our eyes meet.

“What’s going through that mind of yours?” he asks.